Letter to the Editor: 'Scametta,' your scam is done!

To the Editor:On Thursday, April 18, 2013, 6:45 in the evening, I was putting groceries in the passenger side of my van. A cold drizzle was covering the remaining packages and I hurried to get everything under cover. A woman came up to me and asked if I would help her.She was shaking and crying and looked terr...

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Sault Ste. Marie Evening News - Sault Ste. Marie, MI

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Posted Apr. 23, 2013 at 12:03 PM
Updated Apr 23, 2013 at 12:11 PM

Posted Apr 23, 2013 at 12:03 PM
Updated Apr 23, 2013 at 12:11 PM

To the Editor:

On Thursday, April 18, 2013, 6:45 in the evening, I was putting groceries in the passenger side of my van. A cold drizzle was covering the remaining packages and I hurried to get everything under cover. A woman came up to me and asked if I would help her.

She was shaking and crying and looked terrified. I gave her my full attention and asked how I could help. Mournfully, she told me she needed cab fare to get to her home in Cedarville. Her car had broken down and she had to get home. I gave her $13 from my purse and she thanked me. I asked if she was a Christian, and she said she was. I told her not to be afraid and that God would take care of her. Giving her a hug, I walked around to the other side of my van and got in.

I watched her walking to the front of the retail store and suddenly she turned around and ran back toward my car. Waving her arms, she told me she had miscalculated and needed additional money. I remembered my "secret squirrel supply" and gave her my final $20. She then told me her name was "Tracy" and that she worked at a nearby store and would repay me on Friday if I would just come to the store and ask for her by name.

Early Friday morning I decided to call the store, talk with "Tracy" and tell her to just "pass it on" or "pay it forward."

The store owner told me there was no Tracy employed at their store.

Realizing that I had been "scammed" I was hurt and angry. Older and wiser is little comfort to a woman scammed. I decided to put my story on Facebook. I contacted the local police. The retail store has surveillance video proof of the encounter (the hug makes it even more valid).

On Friday I was talking with a friend at a local assisted care facility. They had a similar incident with a woman of the same description in the parking lot of that facility. The story was slightly different but the need for gas money was expressed and the take was $5.00.

On Saturday morning I had a phone call from a friend in Virginia who is a summer resident in our area. She and her husband had an encounter last July with a woman matching Tracy's description, who needed gas money to get home to Cedarville. As they were leaving the parking lot of the same retail store where Tracy put the bite on me, a woman flagged them down and asked if they had given "that woman" any money. They replied that they had only given her a few dollars.

"It's a scam!" the woman shouted. "She just got some money from me, as well!"

Page 2 of 2 - Beware!

As Jesus said, "Be was wise as serpents and as gentle as doves." (Matthew 10:16)

"Scametta" (Tracy) is about 5'3", 120 lbs., reeks of cigarette smoke, has gray/blonde shoulder-length hair, a wrinkled face, blue eyes, about 50 years old, and had pale blue chipped fingernail polish. She was shabbily dressed and was wearing a dingy, light-colored ski jacket. If you see her, use your cell phone camera to take her picture.

If she asks for money, ask for some identification (like a driver's license), and if all else fails, tell her the fish symbol on Kay Lawrence's van is not a sucker! It is a Christian barracuda.